User blog:Loolveus/How to CORRECTLY write a tragic character
Alright folks, Cherry here talking to you about the best ways in which you can make any of your characters sympathetic or tragic in any way. Now keep in mind there's not an exact art or a definitive right or wrong way to do this however I'm going to do my best to discuss when it should be done and when it shouldn't as well. When can it be Done? Okay, so you're writing a character that you actively WANT to be seen as a tragic figure in the eyes of reader, what ground rules should you follow? 1. Make them at the VERY least someone the audience can empathise with. * If you're character is someone the audience can legitimately feel for then it is a pretty good step if you want to make them tragic after that. This could be extended into the realm of sympathy for a stronger result though since that does tend to get a stronger reaction. 2. Don't make their actions and personality overly cruel and sadistic for no reason and still expect the reader to feel sorry for them. * This is a problem for MANY characters however the most by far infamous example would probably be Jeff the Killer who believe it or not is supposed to be tragic. Personally I don't see him as this; yeah getting burned alive is surely traumatic but I don't really see why that makes him someone I'm meant to feel completely sorry for. ** A good way of avoiding falling into this trap is giving your character a redemption arc, some moments of genuine kindness showing that they aren't just blindly evil or generically insane, give them some kind of remorse to their actions or give them a reasonably friendly personality to contrast with their darker nature. These are all ways that can help flesh out a character and make them more believable. 3. Give them a reasonable justification for what they do. * This can admittedly be quite hard depending on the character, I'd say this is mostly easier with protagonists since they're the focus of a story. ** The more common and often used ways of doing this would be making the character suffer from some kind of or multiple mental illnesses. This is a fairly acceptable method HOWEVER, I would strongly advise that unless you meet at least one of criteria DO NOT do this: 1 you yourself have one of the illnesses you've given to the character, 2 you've had experience with it through somebody close to you like a family member or a friend or 3 you've got a lot of knowledge on the illness/es you've gave the character. *** This method can also be done by giving your character a dark and/or traumatic past however once again I cannot stress enough that if you do this YOU need to know what you're talking about to a VERY high degree. When can it not be Done? Now you see it's much easier to write a generic horror or thriller character than it is a sympathetic one for pretty obvious reasons so essentially if you're character is one of the following things I'd advise you don't make them sympathetic. *They commit horrible crimes without ANY form of justification. *They have went far beyond the realm of redemption already (crossed the moral event horizon too many times) *They're justification is far too petty and minimal to allow the reader to feel genuinely sorry for them. *They are far too unlikable for the reader to find enduring or tragic. *They have a good justification and excuse for their actions but they ignore it and just go full blown evil (think Koba for Planet of the Apes if any of you are into films or Joker in The Killing Joke if you're more of a comic book fan). By the Way In all fairness though it is subjective what we find tragic in a character and different people will feel sorry for different characters throughout fiction. For example the antagonists I view as sympathetic are; Mr Glass, Darth Vader and Two-Face. Meanwhile for protagonists I view as sympathetic are; Bruce Roberston, David Dunn and Veronica Sawyer. I doubt everyone is going to think the same way as me as we all have different opinions on these things. Conclusion I'm not in control of any character you guys create but please just take a skim of my advice if you're thinking of writing a new tragic CP character, it could be helpful. Category:Blog posts